Soap (Season 1)
The first season of the soap opera/situation comedy, Soap premiered in 1977 on the ABC television network. Created by Susan Harris (who had a bit part as Babette a prostitute in this season), the series introduced the main characters of the Tate and Campbell families. Plot We are introduced to two separate but interconnected families in the small town of Dunn's River, Connecticut. The wealthy Tate family led by Chester Tate, a pompous stockbroker; his sweet but incredibly naïve (and quite daffy) wife, Jessica Tate; and their three children, Corinne Tate Flotsky; Eunice Tate Leitner and Billy. Also living with them is Jessica's dementia ridden father, Major Gatling, known only as the Major. The one person who seemed sane in this insanity ridden household was the black cook-butler, Benson DuBois. His relations with the family was strained. He adored Jessica, Billy and Corinne, but despised Chester and Eunice. On the other end of the societal spectrum we meet the Campbell families. Construction foreman, Burt Campbell, his second wife, Mary (Mary is Jessica's sister); and her sons from a previous marriage, Jodie Dallas and Danny Dallas. The overly macho, but extremely nervous Burt adored Mary but he had a lot of issues with her sons. He hated Jodie because he was gay and hated Danny because he was in the mob. These two families are insane, but yet they loved one another. Chester worked in Manhattan as a stock broker, and had a secretary called Claire (Kathryn Reynolds) who was also his mistress. She had been working for him for 12 years and had been his mistress for just as long. She constantly wanted him to leave Jessica and marry her. However, he was also cheating on her with another woman named Pigeon. Despite all the evidence, and everyone telling her that Chester was not to be trusted, Jessica believed that Chester would never cheat on her. Even Benson stated that Chester "jumped on anything that breeds!" Still Jessica would never accept that her husband would cheat on her. However, Jessica was also prone to cheating. Which she did with a local tennis pro named Peter. What made it really crazy was that Peter was her nephew by marriage, although she never realized it. For Peter was Peter Campbell, her brother in-law's older son from a previous marriage. Corinne, who was pining away for her childhood boyfriend, Father Tim Flotsky (Sal Viscuso), was known for her promiscuity. She was also seeing Peter, who was just as promiscuous as she was, dating almost every woman in Dunn's River, including her mother and another woman, Mrs. Sheila Fein (Nita Talbot). Eunice, a woman who gave the impression that she was an ice-queen, was in reality embarked in an affair with married congressman Walter McCallum (Edward Winter) who was unhappily married to Marilyn (Judith-Marie Bergan). However, that ended when she told her husband that she would expose his affair with Eunice if she did not return with him. The milquetoast congressman returned to his wife, who smirked at Eunice. Other complications arose when Peter was mysteriously killed in his apartment. At first, Corinne was thought to have murdered him, as she had been living with him, but Jessica was later thought to have murdered him! Corinne also had the misfortune to discover that she was adopted. Her real mother, one Ingrid Svenson, had come to town to see the Tate and Campbell families were destroyed! She was the spiteful former maid to the Gatling family (Jessica's parents) and she had been involved with Jessica and Mary's brother, Randolph (Bernard Fox). Ingrid was pregnant, but yet, Mrs. Gatling fired Ingrid and took the child from her, giving her to Jessica to raise. The pompous (and quite idiotic) Chief of Police (or "Piece of Cholief") Tinkler (Gordon Jump) would announce that everyone in the Tate and Campbell families were suspects in Peter's murder (which meant he used every stereotype in the books; claiming Benson did it because "the butler always did it"; and because Jodie was gay). The scheming Ingrid was intent on seeing Jessica imprisoned, because she hated her. To that end, she slept with Judge Anthony Petrillo (Charles Lane), who had a huge ax to grind with Chester, because he wiped out his finances! Jessica had confronted Ingrid on what being a mother was like. Corinne then confronted her mother and told her that her hate for Jessica was greater than her love for her. She then denounced Ingrid and moved back in with Jessica and Chester. A furious Ingrid demanded that Corinne return to her, but Corinne told her that her family was with the Tates. Chester and Jessica threw her out, with Ingrid, as usual, vowing revenge and screaming "HA!" Meanwhile, the troublemaking Claire was blackmailing Chester, by ordering him to get her a new car and a condo. During a lunch with Mary, Jessica happened to catch Claire and Chester kissing. This sent Jessica to tears and allowed Mary to comfort her. Meanwhile, Claire had threatened to make sure Chester would go to jail unless he took care of her. Yet, at another lunch, Chester finally wised up to her conniving and fired her and took back the car and the condo. This sent Claire into a screaming fit and she trashed the lunch setting and then called the SEC and blew the whistle on Chester and his criminal ways. Meanwhile, he had found the best lawyer for Jessica, E. Ronald Mallu (Eugene Roche), who had fallen in love with Jessica. Love did not come to just Mallu. His assistant, Carol David (Rebecca Balding), met Jodie, and instantly fell in lust with him. On a weekend together, the scheming legal assistant bedded him. During the trial, Jessica did not take things seriously, and kept proclaiming that she was innocent. However, the jury announced otherwise. That she was guilty for killing Peter Campbell. However, it was revealed that she HADN'T killed Peter. It had been CHESTER who had murdered Peter and had framed Jessica for it! She was released, the verdict overturned and Chester sent to prison! Category:Prime time soaps